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Pete Bremy and Cactus Announce New Album 'Black Dawn'

At the dawn of time, there was The Big Bang. In the Black Dawn, there is Cactus.

By BP Staff
, Jul 19, 2016

At the dawn of time, there was The Big Bang.In the Black Dawn, there is Cactus.

Cactus, the band that was once heralded as America’s answer to Led Zeppelin, has returned with Black Dawn, a new studio album, and its first inalmost seven years. Featuring the blistering riff-rock that the band built its reputation on, Black Dawn is classic Cactus with a fresh new energy that the band has not had since its heyday in the early 1970s. Released August 30th on Blvd Records, the album will land just days ahead of the band’s first string of US dates in over four years.

Featuring original founding members Carmine Appice (drums, vocals); and Jim McCarty (guitars), along with bassist Pete Bremy; harp player Randy Pratt; and lead singer Jimmy Kunes; this version of Cactus Redux is sure to embrace not only its long time core fans but also a whole new generation of rock enthusiasts.

“This is a whole new phase for Cactus,” says Carmine Appice. “We had a renewed energy when we got together to make this album, and it shows. Being away for a few years actually did us a lot of good. We were focused and ready to rock again.”

“We put in an enormous amount of time getting the feel of the record and the sound just right,” says Jim McCarty. “ I would have to put my money down on the fact that there are not a lot of other bands out there right now, especially from our era, that rock as solid or as hard as Cactus does on Black Dawn.”

Opening with the foreboding title track, Black Dawn leads the listener down on a righteous path of infectious rock classics, including: “Heading For A Fall,” “Mama Bring It Home,” “Juggernaut,” and the funk-infused “You Need Love.” Also included on the album are two previously unreleased studio tracks featuring the original line up of Appice, Bogert, Day, and McCarty, thus bridging the legendary old Cactus to the newer, re-fueled version. Formed in 1970 from the ashes of The Vanilla Fudge by Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert, the initial line up also featured McCarty and vocalist Rusty Day. (Appice and Bogert had originally planned a new band with Jeff Beck which was put off until 1973, because of Beck’s near fatal car crash in 1969). Jim McCarty had come from Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and was playing with The Buddy Miles Express. Tim and Carmine also found vocalist Day in The Amboy Dukes with Ted Nugent. Together, the four musicians formed Cactus, named after the peyote cactus, which provided a key ingredient in mind-altering drugs.

While Cactus saw success from the start and soon built a loyal fan base, by early 1973, the band had collapsed mainly due to lack of real support from its label, and the fact that Beck was now ready play with Carmine and Tim. It would not be until 2010, a decade after the tragic death of Rusty Day, that the group reformed with Pratt and Kunes. When Tim Bogert was forced into retirement after a serious motorcycle accident, Pete Bremy jumped in, hence, forming the current line up.

To further enhance the album, Cactus has shot a new music video for the first radio track, “Headed For A Fall.” In the fall of 2016, the group will head out for its first US tour in six years, with a series of dates kicking off on September 9th. “We still have a lot of life left in this band,” says Appice. “Black Dawn is the just the beginning; if I have my way, Cactus is not going anywhere except upward and onward.”